After a stunning race win yesterday, Ger Owens and Phil Lawton posted a 17th this morning, pushing them out of the top ten, from ninth overall to 13th. Conditions were light again for the first race of the day, just seven knots of wind from an ESE direction, with temperatures high at 28 degrees Celsius.
The course was a trapezoid with an inner loop, and as seems to be the case, it's the first two legs that decide the race order, with little hope of a fightback if a crew find themselves in the second row.
Australian pairing Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page, who have kited their ambitions for gold unashamedly, have established themselves at the top of the pecking order, closely followed by the French and Spanish pairs. Winners of race three, British pairing Nick Rogers and Jo Glanfield, move to fifth overall.
Flag-bearer Ciara Peelo started her campaign today with a disappointing 26th place finish in race one, and with race two underway, rounded the weather mark in 24th position.
Ciara's race is currently playing out live on RTE - click here to watch (Real Player must be installed on your computer to do so - download it here.)
UPDATE: Ciara hauled herself back up the rankings on the first run to reach 17th, and held that position to the finish, meaning she heads for shore in 25th position overall, which will be a disappointing position to be in for the Malahide sailor.
Meanwhile, the Owens/Lawton 470 duo jumped five places during the closing downwind legs to finish 15th in their second race today. They retain 13th overall, and are within shouting distance of the top ten. They have four races to go before the medal race, featuring the top ten teams only.
Click here to go to the ISAF Olympic results centre
